Tuning a kite is a bit of an art, but after Ya figure it out you probablywill think the time on the puzzle was well worth it. Even my Ozone Edgeneeded a bit of tweaking before i was satisfied.

It's No different than the first flight on my $10K rigid wing hang glider :(well "That" sucked ) ! it flies A-symmetrical and different at stall to high speed ?? !!AND now it Doesn't, after 20 hours of work.

I once had a Monkey kite that had been stitched badly: the 'tube' segments for the leading edge had each been rotated by 1 stitch down one side... So by the time the 6 or so segments on the right side were connected, it was 6 stitches out/twisted at the wing tip.. This meant the damn thing was like a very flat banana and consistently pulled to the one side. It was like hanging on to a bulldog that wouldn't run straight, even when I shortened the steering line.Took me a while to figure out the problem.... Laying it face down, pumped up, I could see the tiny twist.

We're in a "live" status now... I'm working and he's on the water. I instructed him to attach the red to the blue thereby reversing the steering lines. He called me and with wind blowing he said, "The red line appears slacker than the blue". Yesterday the blue appeared slacker than the red...

He did not test whether the kite is leaning to the left now... He'll call me in a few...

Even though the "appearance" of the lines being of different tensions leads one to think the lines are of different lengths I did try to measure them and they appeared to be equal. The front lines as well.

If the bar is the culprit what could be wrong with it?

You have a wonky kite.A friend of mine bought a switch and got rid of it right away... When well inflated I could see that the kite was not symmetric.It was actually quite evident as I noticed it without really looking for it.Once I noticed it looking at it carefully showed a different shape to the leading edge and struts on one side.

That said it's understandable that for the price they charge they cannot do the same level of quality control far more expensive brands do. It seems that there are a lot of very happy switch riders so it's quite likely that the problem kites are not too many. If switch is good about switching defective kitesit would all balance out. Switch is a new "company" so this kind of thing can happen.The brand should not be dismissed for the odd defective kite. How they approach dealing with replacements is more important.

However it is very important to point out that a kite that is not balanced and pulls to one side is far more likely to go into a death loop if something goes wrong.

On a different note.... Good thing to always test a kite in light wind.But it's also important to test a small high wind kite in stiff winds.What I mean is if you buy a 6m to ride in 40MPH winds you should test it in light wind... say 15mph, but also in 25/30mph. This is because problemscan show up when the kite is under more load.

In particular a kite that pulls to one side may become totally unmanageableunder more load and even dangerous.

For the sake of records, immediately after, Felix asked me so send my kite to him, switch mailed me a new kite, also replaced new lines on my bar. Excited to use it come spring. Can't wait to get back on the water.

For the sake of records, immediately after, Felix asked me so send my kite to him, switch mailed me a new kite, also replaced new lines on my bar. Excited to use it come spring. Can't wait to get back on the water.

It is well appreciated, that you came back on this subject to let us and others know, it shows even with the problems you have had, Switch will always try to help its customers.Hope all is settelled now, good luck and tight lines!!

Who is online

You cannot post new topics in this forumYou cannot reply to topics in this forumYou cannot edit your posts in this forumYou cannot delete your posts in this forumYou cannot post attachments in this forum